124 



l^LANT PROPAGAI'lON 



by thcni. In amateur window gardening they are often 

 called "slips," because they are the side shoots pulled or 

 "slipped" off the main stems and branches of plants. 

 The term is not used in commercial practice since "cut- 

 ting" covers the whole idea. Bedding plants — alternan- 

 thera, achyranthes, coleus, geranium (Fig. 92), verbena, 

 ageratum, and salvia — are so propagated. Green wood 



cuttings are also made of 

 dahlia, sweet or Irish 

 potato sprouts when 

 stock is costly or scarce, 

 tubers being started in 

 the usual way, the stems 

 cut when large enough, 

 and placed in a cut- 

 ting bed. Soft grow- 

 ing tips of many orna- 

 mental shrubs and other 

 hardwood plants are 

 treated thus at the 

 right stage of develop- 

 ment. 



183. Requisites for green wood cuttings. — The primary 

 requisite for success with green wood cuttings is vigorous 

 health in the parent plant. Failure is almost certain 

 otherwise. Second, when bent the wood must be in such 

 condition that it will not crush but snap, leaving a clean 

 break across the stem with nothing but a little epidermis 

 connecting the broken part with the stem below (Fig. 

 111). This is a beginner's test; experienced propagators 

 recognize the right stage of development at a glance. 



184. Stem parts used for green cuttings. — Propagators 

 dispute whether terminal or twig tip cuttings will give 

 better results than those lower down. Doubtless cut- 

 tings made from main stems and each with a terminal 

 bud will give most satisfactory results, but this is rather 

 because of their vigor and vitality than because of the 



111— GREEN WOOD FOR CUTTINGS 

 a, just right; b, too old. 



